Government Relations
Legislative Update
March 21, 2003
Joint Finance Committee Proceedings
On Monday, March 17, UW System President Katharine C. Lyall and Board of Regents President Guy Gottschalk addressed the Joint Finance Committee.
- Power Point presentation given to Joint Finance Committee members
- New "Worth Every Penny" presentation
The Finance Committee will also hold six public hearings on the biennial budget bill (SB-44) in the next two weeks. All hearings will begin at 10 a.m. and run until 5 p.m.
The dates and locations of the hearings are:
- Monday, March 24: Rhinelander. James William Junior High School, 915 Acacia Lane.
- Tuesday, March 25: Menasha. Menasha High School Auditorium, 420 7th St.
- Monday, March 31: Milwaukee. Washington High School, 2525 North Sherman Blvd.
- Thursday, April 3: River Falls. River Falls High School, 818 Cemetery Road.
- Tuesday, April 8: Platteville. UW-Platteville Center for the Arts, 1 University Plaza.
- Wednesday, April 9: Madison. Room 412-E, State Capitol.
Legislative Fiscal Bureau summary of the governor's budget
Regents to hold listening sessions
The Board of Regents will hold two listening sessions next week to get feedback from invited students, faculty, parents, alumni, community leaders and others about how budget cuts could affect their campuses and communities. The sessions are planned for Stevens Point on March 25 and Waukesha on March 26. An additional session will be held the following week in Madison on March 31.
Governor to hold listening sessions
Gov. Jim Doyle will hold a listening session at the Stoughton Area Senior Center, 248 W. Main Street, Stoughton on Saturday, March 22, from noon -1:00 p.m.
Floor Session
This week, the Senate
passed the following resolutions and sent them to the
Assembly:
SJR-27.
Congratulates and commends the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
men's basketball team and Head Coach Bruce Pearl on
earning their first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance.
SJR-29.
Honors the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women's
basketball team.
The Senate and the Assembly adjourned until April 29.
Committee Hearings
Senate Higher Education and Tourism met Wednesday, March 19, to take up the UW Board of Regents appointments for Danae Davis, Jesus Salas and David Walsh. Committee members asked the regents to express their views on potential cuts to the UW System, tuition increases, executive salaries and financial aid. The committee will vote on the appointments in the future.
The Building Commission met March 19 and approved the Division of Facilities Development (DFD) recommendation for the UW System in the 2003-2005 Capital Budget, which includes $30 million GPR bonding for maintenance that was put in place during 2001-03 and will become available July 1. The UW System will receive a total of $135 million in the All Agency appropriations, including $6 million for land acquisition at UW-Oshkosh. The commission also approved a total of $61 million GPR for major projects for all state agencies; $51 million would be for UW System major projects. The commission voted to approve finishing phased construction and ongoing programs that were started in previous biennia. The commission decided not to take up the proposed statutory changes on the building program process. Instead, the members will discuss these items at their April meeting and possibly draft them as separate legislation. The Building Commission recommendations require approval by the full Legislature.
Upcoming Hearings
Assembly Committee on Budget Review meets in Room 328 Northwest in the State Capitol on Tuesday, March 25 at 1 p.m. to discuss UW-Extension: Organization, Responsibilities and Budget (briefing).
Pending Legislation Site
Check out the updates to the
UW System Pending Legislation site:
http://www.uwsa.edu/execvp/govrel/pending/index.htm
Information on the Web
UW System Government Relations:
http://www.uwsa.edu/govrel/
UW System Budget:
http://www.uwsa.edu/budplan/
Wisconsin Legislature on the Web
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/
Prepared by Kerry
Niemcek.
For further information contact Margaret
Lewis (608) 262-4464 or David
Miller (608) 262-4463